Censuses

John Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will instruct the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to provide substantive answers to Questions concerning decennial censuses after consulting the Registrar General;
	(2)  whether Treasury Ministers have used their powers under section 2(1) of the Census Act 1920 to control and direct the Registrar General since 1990;
	(3)  whether the necessary permission to retain the (a) 1981 and (b) 1991 census records for England and Wales in the Office for National Statistics once they are over 30-years-old has already been granted by the Lord Chancellor.

Stephen Timms: I am the Minister responsible for the population census. Day-to-day responsibility rests with the Registrar General, who is also the National Statistician.
	All Parliamentary questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer are answered substantively. It has been the practice of successive Administrations for many years to delegate questions concerning the census to the Registrar General for answer by letter. All such letter answers are printed in the Official Report.
	The Registrar General undertakes his functions under section 2(1) of the Census Act 1920 and of any Census Order or Regulations made under the 1920 Act. His powers to carry out the census are subject to the control of, and in compliance with, any Ministerial direction by virtue of Section 2(2) of the 1920 Act. The Registrar General has regular meetings with the relevant Minister to discuss census-related issues. The Government's proposals for the 2001 Census were published in a White Paper ("The 2001 Census of Population", Cm 4253) in March 1999. Parliamentary authority for the 2001 Census was subsequently given by virtue of the Census Order 2000 (SI 2000/744), the Census Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1473), the Census (Amendment) Order 2000 (SI 2000/3249), and the Census (Amendment) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/3351).
	I understand that no application has yet been made by the Registrar General to the Lord Chancellor, under the provisions of section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958, for him to retain the records from the 1981 or 1991 Censuses once they are over 30-years-old.

Employment Rates

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions of long-term employment rates for (a) men and (b) women underpin the Treasury's published figures on long-term fiscal trends.

John Healey: As required by the "Code for Fiscal Stability", the Treasury publishes illustrative long- term fiscal projections as part of the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report (EFSR). The long-term macroeconomic assumptions are stated in Annex A of the EFSR. Regarding long-term employment rates, Annex A of the 2005 EFSR states that:
	"By assumption, employment is driven entirely by demographic trends. Specifically, with the overall employment rate assumed to remain constant from 2009–10 onwards, changes in employment levels reflect changes in the working-age population" (Budget 2005, page 178).
	No specific assumptions regarding the future evolution of male and female employment rates are made.
	In addition to the illustrative long-term fiscal projections, the Treasury also publishes the Long-term Public Finance Report (LTPFR) alongside the pre-Budget report. The baseline results of the 2004 LTPFR are also based on the assumption of an unchanged total employment rate beyond the medium term. In addition, the 2004 LTPFR (pages 33–37) presents results based on an alternative approach to projecting employment trends.

Operation Stack

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of journeys affected by Operation Stack on the M20.

David Jamieson: During 2004 Kent police activated Operation Stack on six occasions. Between 27 January and 29 March 2005 it has been necessary to implement Operation Stack on 17 occasions because of the difficulties with the docking facilities in Calais and the effects of industrial action in France.
	Kent police do not hold detailed records that show how many vehicles have actually been affected by the implementation of Operation Stack. However, there are approximately 23,000 vehicles per day travelling on the M20 between Junctions 11 and 12 on the coastbound carriageway (Phase one of Operation Stack) and approximately 30,000 vehicles per day travelling between Junctions eight and nine on the coastbound (Phase two of Operation Stack). When Operation Stack is implemented a large proportion of these vehicles would have to alter their route, change their travel plans and may experience a delay to their journey.

Cote d'Ivoire

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with (a) the UN and (b) France regarding (i) the security situation in Côte d'Ivoire and (ii) the long-term strength of UN and French peacekeeping forces stationed there.

Chris Mullin: The UN Security Council discussed the situation in Côte d'Ivoire on 28 March, including the UN Secretary-General's proposal to reinforce the UN mission there. Council members are now discussing the renewal of the mandates of the UN and French forces in Côte d'Ivoire. We remain in close touch with our French counterparts in Paris, New York and Abidjan and with the UN Secretariat in New York about the security situation and the future mandates of the UN and French forces.

Cotonou Agreement

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the proposed inclusion of weapons of mass destruction clauses in the Cotonou agreements between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific states.

Denis MacShane: The Cotonou Agreement covers many aspects of the EU's relationship with the ACP group—trade, aid and political dialogue. The EU has agreed that such mixed agreements should reflect our common interest in non-proliferation of WMD as an issue of political dialogue. The EU has told the African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) that
	"financial and technical assistance in the area of counter proliferation of WMD will be financed from instruments other than those intended for the financing of ACP-EC cooperation"
	i.e. not from the European Development Fund or other EC thematic development lines.

Cyprus

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many properties built on occupied and misappropriated Greek Cypriot owned land in the northern part of the island of Cyprus have been purchased by citizens of the United Kingdom.

Denis MacShane: The Government does not have access to that information. It is a matter for private individuals, acting upon appropriately qualified legal advice.
	However, I welcome this opportunity to give further publicity to the relevant advice on our website (www.fco.gov.uk), to the effect that:
	"Before purchasing property anywhere in Cyprus you are strongly advised to seek independent qualified legal advice.
	Property issues are closely linked to the political situation. The non-recognition of the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' and the possibility of a future political settlement in Cyprus could have significant practical or financial implications for those considering buying property in the north. There is also a risk that purchasers would face legal proceedings in the courts of the Republic of Cyprus. Separately, there are specific rules for foreigners purchasing property in the north and you should ensure you are fully aware of these."

European Constitution

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is his policy that failure by (a) the UK, (b) France and (c) the Netherlands to ratify the Constitution for Europe should lead to a presumption that that State (i) would and (ii) should withdraw from the European Union.

Denis MacShane: No. That will depend on each member state.

European Constitution

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 March 2005, Official Report, column 219W, on the European Constitution, what the (a) civil service grades and (b) job description are of the 14 members of the EU Constitution team within his Department's Europe Directorate.

Denis MacShane: Further to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Mr. Hopkins) on 3 March 2005, Official Report, column 220W, following normal recruitment procedures there are now 15 staff in the EU Constitution Team. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office grades are:
	1XD7; 2XD6; 1XC5; 4XC4; 3XB3; 2XA2; 2XAl.
	The team consists of a Team Leader, a Policy and Communications Manager, a Bill Manager, an officer responsible for communications strategy, three officers responsible for communications, publications and policy, an officer responsible for the EU Bill, an officer responsible for Parliament, an officer responsible for regional visits and media and an officer responsible for polling. There are four support officers at the Band A grade.

Israel

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities on the plans of the Israeli Government to build more homes on the West Bank.

Bill Rammell: We have made frequent representations to the Israeli government expressing our concern over continued settlement activity. We have made clear our view that settlements are illegal under international law. The Roadmap requires that Israel freeze all settlement expansion and dismantle outposts erected since March 2001. Most recently my right hon. and noble Friend the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, met the Israeli Ambassador in London on 23 March. Baroness Symons expressed our concern at Israel's plans to build 3,500 more homes between the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim and Jerusalem.

Middle East

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the work of the EU on (a) governmental transparency and (b) anti-corruption mechanisms in the Middle East; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: My Department has made no specific assessment of the work of the EU on governmental transparency and anti-corruption mechanisms in the Middle East. But the UK's national contribution to the 10-year Review of the Barcelona Process argues that the EU and Mediterranean Partner countries should set long-term governance targets in order, among other things, to promote greater transparency in policy making and to counter corruption across the EuroMed region. We believe that such targets should be incorporated into the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans with Mediterranean Partner countries. And we will continue to press the EU to incorporate the principles of the EU Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East as it develops its relations with other countries in the region.

Mr. Nick Baker

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department has received concerning the state of health of Mr. Nick Baker who is in prison in Japan; and what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with Japanese officials concerning Mr. Baker's case.

Chris Mullin: Our embassy in Japan and the Consular Directorate in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are monitoring Mr. Baker's case closely, including his state of health. Embassy officials have discussed health issues with Mr. Baker during consular visits and raised them with Japanese officials where necessary. For reasons of consular confidentiality we cannot reveal detailed information about Mr. Baker's health.
	The FCO is also monitoring Mr. Baker's appeal against his conviction, which is continuing in the Japanese courts. Embassy officials raise Mr Baker's case with the Japanese authorities whenever appropriate.
	The FCO remains in touch with Mr. Baker and his family and will inform them of any developments in his case.

Nuclear Proliferation

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom has made representations to any non-nuclear weapons states in respect of the development or operation of (a) spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants, (b) uranium enrichment plants and (c) separated plutonium stores.

Denis MacShane: The UK, as a State Party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), upholds the inalienable right of non-nuclear weapon states to the peaceful use of nuclear energy under Article IV of the Treaty, in conformity with Articles I and II of the Treaty. The UK also seeks to uphold, and is committed to, all other Articles of the Treaty. It actively participates in and promotes, in the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and other relevant for a such as the G8, compliance with the international nuclear non-proliferation obligations set out in the NPT and other international instruments.

Departmental Policies

Brian Sedgemore: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Folkestone and Hythe constituency, the effects on Folkestone and Hythe of the Law Officers' Department policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Harriet Harman: Since 1997 the Government have embarked on a programme of reform in the criminal justice system to deliver justice for all by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent.
	Statistics are not maintained on a constituency level. For Kent as a whole the statutory charging scheme was introduced in May 2004. This has had a significant impact on the number of cases which fall out of the criminal justice system after charge with an improvement from 18.3 per cent. in 2002–03 to 15.4 per cent. in 2004–05 to date.
	Within Kent there are nine Witness Care Units, the introduction of which should have an impact on the numbers of ineffective trials in both the magistrates courts and the Crown court.
	Kent has one of 14 specialist antisocial behaviour prosecutors. The prosecutor contributes substantially to inter-agency working and 21 Orders on conviction were granted in Kent between November 2004 and February 2005.

Departmental Budget

George Osborne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the planned (a) capital and (b) resource budget for his Department is for 2011–12.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Mr. Timms) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, column 1170W.

Disabled Students

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department is taking to support access to mainstream inclusive education for disabled people.

Margaret Hodge: The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 amended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to cover the provision of education. The 2001 Act required local authorities (LAs) and schools not to discriminate against disabled people in their access to education for reasons relating to their disability. It also required LAs and schools to plan to increase progressively, and over time, access to schools by disabled pupils and prospective pupils.
	The Government's SEN Strategy: "Removing Barriers to achievement" is providing support to help schools and LAs implement these duties through the development of guidance and practical tools. These tools explain how they can make reasonable adjustments to their policies and practice to prevent discrimination, and how they can review and revise their accessibility strategies and plans.
	The Department is also making available £300 million through the Schools Access Initiative between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2006 to cover the first accessibility planning period. This funding is intended to support projects to improve the accessibility of mainstream schools to disabled pupils. It is for LAs to decide the schools at which projects are to be undertaken. We are encouraging schools and LAs to consider access as part of all capital building plans, including through the Building Schools for the Future programme and the recently announced 15 year capital investment programme for Primary Schools.

Food Provision

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether her Department issues general guidance and advice to local authorities in respect of (a) meals on wheels and (b) other public provision of food.

Stephen Ladyman: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department does not issue guidance or general advice to local authorities in respect of meals on wheels. This is a matter for local decision and commissioning, taking into account local circumstances and demography.
	The Department has just launched the food in schools toolkit to provide guidance and support for schools and those working with schools, including local education authorities (LEAs), in implementing a 'whole school approach' to healthy eating and drinking. In addition, the Department issues guidance to LEA maintained schools on implementing the school fruit and vegetable scheme. Funding for the scheme for 2005–06 is £46 million.
	The welfare food scheme (WFS) currently provides tokens for either seven pints of liquid cow's milk or 900 grams of infant formula per week to pregnant women and children under five years old in families on qualifying benefits. "Healthy Start" will replace the existing WFS and will be phased in from summer 2005. We expect that "Healthy Start" expenditure should continue at a similar level to the WFS. The budget is demand-led and current welfare food expenditure is approximately £140 million per annum.

Food Provision

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will extend nutrition education and training in food preparation and cooking units to all sector skills councils.

Ivan Lewis: Improve, the sector skills council for the food and drink industry have responsibility for the national occupational standards related to food preparation. Sector skills councils will address skills issues in the food and cooking industry where this is relevant to their sector. A number of sector skills councils with interests in food and drink manufacture, the crop industry, storage, retail, food preparation, hospitality and other related areas are already working together and have formed the Food Chain Group to address areas of common interest and to share good practice.

National Literacy Strategy

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will describe the synthetic phonics programme in the National Literacy Strategy.

Derek Twigg: The National Literacy Strategy, now the Primary National Strategy, places a clear and early emphasis on synthetic phonics instruction, reinforced by complementary reading strategies such as context, grammatical knowledge and word recognition. This is in line with the best available international research.
	We have produced structured teaching materials for teachers on synthetic phonics entitled "Progression in Phonics" published in 1999, and "Playing with Sounds": a supplement to "Progression in Phonics" published in 2004. Copies of these have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The approach to the teaching of synthetic phonics advocated by the Primary National Strategy is that children should be taught as quickly as possible to identify, segment and blend phonemes in speech and writing, and that this should be taught directly, and not left to inference or invention. We recommend that synthetic phonics should be taught as a separate set of skills and knowledge within the broader structure of the literacy hour.
	The Playing with Sounds programme is designed to support the learning and teaching of synthetic phonics for children from the ages of three to six. It begins with developing children's awareness and discrimination of sounds and supports their progression through segmentation and blending, to an ability to read and spell regular polysyllabic words. The pace at which children are introduced to phonic knowledge through the Playing with Sounds programme is quicker than that set out in the original National Literacy Strategy framework and supports the achievement of the foundation stage early learning goals.

National Literacy Strategy

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cues to word recognition are recommended in the Searchlight approach within the National Literacy Strategy; and if she will describe each of these cues.

Derek Twigg: The National Literacy Strategy is based on the best international research available and supports the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum. It advocates a model of teaching reading which has come to be known by the "Searchlights" metaphor. The model characterises reading as the ability to coordinate and orchestrate four basic cues. These are:
	Fast automatic phonic decoding
	The recognition of word and word parts
	Predictions from knowledge of syntax to make sense of strings of words
	Predictions from context to aid comprehension.
	The Searchlight model is designed to enable the reader to cross-refer between cues, which support each other. The ability to use this range of cues together makes it less critical if one of them fails on any given occasion. However, we promote phonics as the first and foremost strategy that children employ as they encounter new words.
	Phonic decoding and instant recognition of high frequency irregular words are the cues employed at the level of word recognition; grammatical knowledge and understanding of context operate at the level of phrases, sentences and text as a whole. Therefore both aspects of the reading process, decoding and comprehension, are represented in the approach and complement each other.

National Literacy Strategy

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the names are of the officials in her Department responsible for advising her on her response to the Clackmannanshire longitudinal study into the teaching of reading.

Derek Twigg: Officials in the School Standards Group are responsible for advising the Secretary of State on all aspects of the teaching and learning of literacy in schools. Further details can be obtained from the Civil Service Year Book and the DfES website. In addition, through the National Strategies, we draw on the expertise of a number of practitioners and academics who are constantly responding to and keeping abreast of the latest research. In this capacity Dr. Kevan Collins, Director of the Primary National Strategy, has provided advice to Ministers and officials on the implications of the Clackmannanshire study.
	Over time our approach to phonics, which is the subject of the Clackmannanshire study, has been informed by a wide range of experts in the field. In 2003 we convened a seminar of all the leading researchers and practitioners working on phonics issues. The findings of this seminar were independently reviewed and used to inform the development of our most recent guidance on phonics "Playing with Sounds: A supplement to Progression in Phonics".

Older Students

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many over 60-year-olds are studying in further education institutes in England.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is published in the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) statistical first release (SFR), Further Education, Work Based Learning for Young People and Adult and Community Learning—Learner Numbers in England: 2003–04, available on the LSC website: http://www. lsc.gov.uk/National/Partners/Data/Statistics/Learner Statistics/LearnerNumbers/StatisticalFirstRelease 200304.htm
	In 2003–04, there were 387,000 learners aged 60 and over in LSC funded further education. This is more than two and a half times greater than the number in 1997–98.

School Meals

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations she has received regarding Jamie Oliver's Feed Me Better campaign; what plans she has to implement the recommendations of the campaign; and if she will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met with Jamie Oliver to hear about his work in Greenwich, and to inform him of our own work to improve school meals. The Department for Education and Skills has had a large number of letters, e-mails and telephone calls relating to Jamie Oliver's Feed Me Better campaign.
	On 30 March the Secretary of State announced a package that will transform school meals in local education authority maintained schools in England. The elements of the package include:
	Over the next three years, from September 2005, £220 million of new grants to schools and local education authorities to raise the quality of school meals. The LEA grants will be targeted in part to help primary schools spend a minimum of 50p on ingredients and secondary schools, 60p;
	Higher priority to providing new or upgraded kitchen facilities, through our existing programmes to rebuild and refurbish schools. Government are already committed to investing £5.5 billion in 2005–06 rising to £6.3 billion in 2007–08 to improve secondary school buildings, and at least £1.8 billion to improve primary schools in 2007/08;
	£60 million to fund the new School Food Trust, with £45 million of this coming from the Big Lottery Fund. The Trust will provide independent support and advice about school meal improvements to schools and parents and will be working with the Lottery on a range of healthy eating programmes based around schools;
	Toughening up minimum school lunch nutritional standards to reduce sugar, salt and fat intakes and increase consumption of fruit and vegetables and essential nutrients;
	Extending school lunch standards to other food available on school premises, including vending machines and tuck shops;
	Producing new guidance to help schools and local education authorities draw up catering contracts that source healthy school meals' services and healthy food in vending machines, tuck shops and breakfast clubs;
	A range of qualifications for school catering staff.

School Meals

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the percentage of school meals provided free at the point of delivery is in (a) England and (b) Hull; what percentage of pupils in primary schools eat school meals in (i) England and (ii) Hull; and if she will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The available information is shown in the table. Information on pupils taking school meals is not collected centrally.
	
		Maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools(1): School meal arrangements2,3England and City of Kingston Upon Hull local education authority (LEA), January 2004
		
			  Maintained nursery and primary Maintained secondary 
			  England Kingston Upon Hull LEA England Kingston Upon Hull LEA 
		
		
			 Number on roll 4,293,180 23,760 3,326,800 16,220 
			 Number of pupils taking free school meals(4) 608,760 4,740 351,380 2,620 
			 Percentage of pupils taking free school meals 14.2 19.9 10.6 16.2 
			 Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 741,150 6,150 477,290 3,840 
			 Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 17.3 25.9 14.3 23.7 
		
	
	(1) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(2) Includes dually registered pupils and boarding pupils.
	(3) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	(4) Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals that had a free meal on the Census day.
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census
	Pupils are recorded as being eligible for free school meals if a claim has been made by them or on their behalf by parents and either the relevant authority has confirmed their eligibility or the school or LEA have seen the necessary documentation. Eligibility requires the parent (or pupil) to be in receipt of either income support, or income-based jobseekers allowance, or support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, or Child Tax credit but not working tax credit and have an annual income (as assessed by the Inland Revenue) that does not exceed for 2003–04 Tax Year £13,480.
	Section 512 of the Education Act 1996 (EA96), amended by section 201 of the Education Act 2002, places a duty on local education authorities to provide free school lunches to eligible pupils. (A similar duty is transferred to the governing body of any school that has had the budget for school lunches delegated to them).
	Children, whose parents receive the following support payments, are entitled to a free school lunch:
	Income support (IS);
	Income-based jobseekers allowance (IBJSA);
	Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999;
	Child tax credit, provided they are not entitled to working tax credit and have an annual income, as assessed by the Inland Revenue, that does not exceed 13,480 (2004–05).
	Children who receive IS or IBJSA in their own right are also entitled to free school lunches.
	For information on Wales I refer the right hon. Member to the Welsh Assembly.

Special Schools

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many special schools have closed in (a) Coventry and (b) England since 1997.

Stephen Twigg: Since 1997 281 special schools 1 have closed in England. There were no special school closures 2 in Coventry during this period.
	1 Special schools include: Other independent special schools, community special schools, non-maintained special schools, foundation special schools and independent schools approved for SEN pupils.
	2 The figures include special schools that closed as a result of the amalgamation or merger of two or more schools.

Avian Flu

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely impact on (a) UK production of poultry, (b) local employment at UK turkey factories, (c) health of UK-produced poultry and (d) public health in the UK of avian influenza introduced into the UK through turkeys imported from (i) Thailand, (ii) Brazil and (iii) other countries; and what plans she has to limit the level of turkey imports.

Ben Bradshaw: The Contingency Plan for Avian Influenza sets out the policies that would be implemented to control an outbreak of avian flu, and includes arrangements for protecting those who have to deal with an outbreak of avian flu in this country. This plan will be implemented whatever the source of the disease. The arrangements contribute to protecting public health for which the responsibility lies with the Department of Health.
	Defra has not undertaken assessments of impacts on industry (production or employment) related to hypothetical outbreaks of disease.
	We are not aware of any outbreaks of HPAI in Brazil and therefore consider that there is currently no risk of introducing the disease from that country. We continue to actively monitor the animal health status of countries which export animals or animal products to the EU. When Defra is officially notified of a new disease incident in an EU member state, a country on the border of the EU or one of the UK's third country trading partners, we carry out a qualitative risk analysis. Risk assessments for avian influenza have been completed and are available at: <http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/monitoring/riskassess.htm>
	Of those countries in South East Asia that are affected by outbreaks of HPAI, only Thailand was eligible to export poultry meat including turkey meat to the EU prior to their outbreaks. As soon as Defra was notified of the outbreak in Thailand, safeguard measures were put in place to ban imports of fresh poultry meat. Cooked poultry meat that has not been heat treated to at least 70C has also been banned. Imports of live poultry from the affected countries are not permitted.
	All poultry meat imported into the EU from third countries must enter at designated border inspection posts where it is subject to veterinary inspections to ensure import conditions are met.
	There have been no outbreaks of either avian influenza or Newcastle disease in the UK for seven years. The Defra Veterinary Laboratories Agency produces a quarterly report on avian surveillance which is published on the Defra website at: http://www. defra.gov.uk/corporate/vla/science/science-end-survrep- qtly.htm

Bovine TB

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will assess whether there is a link between an increase in human TB and the spread of bovine TB among cattle.

Ben Bradshaw: There is no link between increase in human tuberculosis (TB) and the spread of bovine TB among cattle in the United Kingdom (UK). Human TB is most often caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (which is usually acquired from another human) and not by Mycobacterium bovis, the cause of bovine TB, which nowadays is rarely transmitted to man.
	Between 20 and 50 (typically 40) people have been diagnosed with bovine TB in the UK annually since 1990, representing 1 per cent. to 1.5 per cent. of culture-confirmed cases of TB in humans. Their geographical distribution does not mirror that of bovine TB in the cattle population. Most cases are attributed to (i) reactivation of old infection contracted prior to widespread pasteurisation of milk, or (ii) infection contracted abroad.

Foot and Mouth

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many premises were assigned during the UK foot and mouth epidemic in 2004 to the (a) infected premises, (b) dangerous contact—3 km cull, (c) dangerous contact—contiguous cull, (d) dangerous contact—other, (e) slaughter on suspicion and (f) voluntary firebreak cull category; how many premises in each category were subject to laboratory testing; how many positives were identified in each category by such testing; how much compensation was paid for the value of the animals that were slaughtered at premises in each category; what the cost was of cleansing and disinfection at premises in each category; and how many animals were slaughtered at premises in each category, broken down by species.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 4 April 2005
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) on 23 March 2005, Official Report, column 838W, for the details requested at (a) to (f) , in particular at Tables (ii) and (iv). However, we are unable to identify the information separately for the voluntary firebreak cull.
	Compensation paid for the value of animals in each category is a follows:
	(a) £482,625,076
	(b) £68,677,197
	(c) and (d) £527,477,519 (Defra is unable to distinguish between dangerous contact—contiguous cull and dangerous contact—other)
	(e) £24,639,178
	The information required on the cost of cleansing and disinfecting at premises in each category is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TB (Badgers)

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will introduce field trials of devices for detecting biological warfare agents used on the battlefield to detect levels of TB in badgers in the west country.

Ben Bradshaw: The application of portable laboratories developed by the Ministry of Defence for detection of biological warfare agents, to detect bovine tuberculosis (TB) in badgers in the field is not yet at the stage appropriate for field evaluation.
	This technology is based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Research using conventional laboratory-based PCR has shown that the technique is not yet able to perform as well as conventional bacterial culture in the detection of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) in diseased animals.
	A collaboration between the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down is evaluating a prototype portable machine for diseases other than bovine TB (Bovine Diarrhoea Virus and Foot and Mouth Disease). There are plans to evaluate it for use in detecting M. bovis in the field in the future.
	Defra is currently assessing research applications for projects that will conduct a review of all current PCR assays available for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex identification and assess their cost benefit analysis for incorporation into routine TB testing.

TB (Badgers)

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what strains of bovine TB in infected livestock have been isolated; and whether the same strains have been isolated in badgers killed in road traffic accidents.

Ben Bradshaw: Strains of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) isolated from cattle or badgers infected by bovine tuberculosis are routinely determined by spoligotyping.
	A total of 705 isolates of M. bovis from badgers killed in road traffic accidents have been typed by this method since November 1988, resulting in identification of 17 different strains. Of 25,120 isolates of M. bovis from cattle typed since November 1988, 46 strains have been found.
	16 of the M. bovis strains have been found in both badgers and cattle. These accounted for 99.9 per cent. of badger isolates and 99.3 per cent. of cattle isolates.

Waste Management

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of responses received to the Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 (Agricultural waste regulations consultations); and what plans she has to publish her conclusions.

Elliot Morley: I announced on 9 December 2004, Official Report, column 106WS, that the Government had published a draft of the Regulations for consultation. The consultation paper confirmed that the exercise is being carried out in compliance with the Cabinet Office's "Code of Practice on Consultation" which is available at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/consultation/index.asp
	The consultation's closing date was 18 March 2005 and we are now considering the responses which have been received. The next step will be the publication of a summary of those responses and our analysis of them. Criterion 4 of the Code of Practice provides that this summary should be published, as far as possible, within three months of the consultation's closing date.

Social Work

David Amess: To ask the Minister for Women if she will make a statement on female employment in social care.

Patricia Hewitt: As at 30 September 2003, women represented over 80 per cent. of the total whole-time equivalent employees in social service departments. On a headcount basis, women accounted for 230,700 employees in a directly employed council workforce of 277,000. There are another estimated 650,000 social care workers employed in the private and voluntary sectors, mostly in residential and domiciliary provision, and it is estimated that around 90 per cent. of that workforce is female.

Departmental Budget

George Osborne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the planned (a) capital and (b) resource budget for his Department is for 2011–12.

David Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary (Mr. Timms) on 4 April 2005, Official Report, column 1170W.

Referendums

Kate Hoey: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission whether it is the Commission's assessment that it has adequate powers to prevent illegal donations or spending connected with the referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe during (a) the regulated period and (b) the referendum period.

Peter Viggers: Although by virtue of section 145 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), the Electoral Commission has the general function of monitoring compliance with the restrictions and other requirements imposed by or by virtue of Part VII of PPERA in relation to referendums to which the Act applies, this does not give the Commission power to intervene to prevent either donations or spending in connection with such referendums, including any referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.
	However, the Commission informs me that it has in operation robust processes and procedures to undertake investigations into alleged breaches of the regulatory requirements of PPERA, including those relating to referendums.

Surplus Assets Sales

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value of sales of surplus assets from his Department was in each year since 2000–01.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to Key Target 1 of the Key Targets Table in the Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency (DSA)'s Annual Report and Accounts that were laid before the House for each of those years respectively. The 2003–04 report, laid before the House on 15 July 2004, can be viewed on the DSA's website www.edisposals.com. The figures include receipts from sales undertaken by the DSA on behalf of its main customer—the MOD—and other Government Departments and other customers. The DSA has sole authority to act to dispose of all MOD surplus equipments bar land and property and nuclear material.
	Gross accrued receipts from the sale of surplus land and property are disclosed in the Defence estates accounts that were laid before the House for each of the years 2000–01 to 2003–04. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
	Both the DSA's Annual Report and Accounts and the Defence estate accounts in respect of 2004–05 are due to be laid before the House in advance of the summer recess.

Surplus Assets Sales

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department sold any surplus stock on the eBay auction website, in each year since 2000–01.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 9 March 2005
	The Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency (DSA) has sole authority to act to dispose of surplus equipment. The majority of equipments are sold through the DSA's network of contractors, with whom it has marketing agreements, who have the freedom to market and sell as they choose so as to optimise returns for the taxpayer. These contractors have occasionally used the eBay website in the last few years but records are not held centrally. The DSA has not used eBay directly.

Departmental Budget

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the planned (a) capital and (b) resource budget for her Department is for 2011–12.

Patricia Hewitt: Under the Spending Review process, budget allocations are given for the three years ahead. Following Spending Review 2004 we therefore have detailed spending plans in place for 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08. The Spending Review process does not provide for the setting of budgets more than three years ahead.

"Are you over 50?"

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of (a) designing, (b) writing, (c) printing and (d) distributing the booklet "Are you over 50?", reissued in April 2004.

Jane Kennedy: The information about the costs associated with the revised English and Welsh versions of "Are you Over 50?" April 2004 is in the table.
	
		£
		
			  Cost 
		
		
			 Design 1,920.00 
			 Writing Nil 
			 Printing 172,350.00 
			 Distribution (including storage costs) 48,541.00

Pension Credit

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2005, Official Report, column 1397W, on pension credit, if he will estimate the savings credit take-up rate for (a) those who are entitled to both guarantee credit and savings credit and (b) those who are entitled only to savings credit.

Malcolm Wicks: National statistics on take-up of major DWP benefits are published annually by the Department in "Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-up". These are based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) for the relevant year and take account of both entitled non-recipients and non-entitled recipients. However, they are published significantly in arrears and the 2004–05 statistics will not be available for some time.
	Interim figures can be derived by comparing administrative claimant count with entitlement figures derived from the Policy Simulation Model, based on the 2002–03 Family Resources Survey. However administrative and survey figures are not directly comparable and any take-up figure derived this way is indicative only.
	Guarantee element take-up estimates thus formed can be roughly validated by comparison with existing minimum income guarantee entitlement and take-up estimates. However, in the case of savings credit this is not possible. It is thought that take-up for those on both guarantee and savings credit is to the order of 80 per cent. Similarly it is thought that around half of individuals entitled to savings credit only are taking up their entitlement, although there is no way of validating these results.
	The savings element of pension credit is a relatively new entitlement, introduced in October 2003. Weekly entitlement can be up to £15.51 for single pensioners and £20.22 for couples. It is already in payment to over half a million households. The average award was £9.81 as at November 2004, the latest date for which this figure is available.

Pension Credit

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the number of eligible people not claiming pension credit in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland, (d) England and (e) Bridgend; and what plans he has to improve take-up.

Malcolm Wicks: Direct, reliable estimates of the number of eligible people not receiving pension credit are not yet available.
	The following table shows indicative, broad brush estimates of eligibility levels in 2004–05, where available, and numbers in receipt of pension credit at the end of December 2004. These sets of figures are derived from survey and administrative sources respectively and are not directly comparable. We plan to publish definitive National Statistics on take-up and entitlement for the first six months of pension credit by the end of 2005.
	The pension service is committed to increasing levels of pension credit take-up. We have already written at least once to every pensioner household in the country to tell them about pension credit and encourage them to apply. We are re-contacting directly, by mail, telephone or personal visit, those people whom we believe are particularly likely to be eligible. New, targeted marketing campaigns seek to overcome the barriers which might prevent take-up of pension credit and the reasons which people give for not applying. The pension service local service continues to work in partnership with local authorities and the voluntary sector, particularly in identifying and contacting older people who are vulnerable or who have yet to take up their entitlement.
	
		Eligibility estimates for pension credit 2004–05 and numbers in receipt of pension credit, December 2004
		
			  Wales Scotland England 
		
		
			 Estimated number of eligible private households, 2004–05 200,000 300,000 3,050,000 
			 Estimated number of eligible individuals, 2004–05 250,000 400,000 4,000,000 
			 Private households in receipt of pension credit, 31 December 2004 148,500 259,400 2,082,400 
			 Individuals in receipt of pension credit, 31 December 2004 184,600 313,700 2,561,500 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Eligibility levels for pension credit are estimated using the 2002–03 Family Resources Survey modelled using the Department's Policy Simulation Model. Results are subject to sampling errors and estimation assumptions, so these projections are indicative only until the publication of the National Statistics estimates of income-related benefits.
	2. Eligibility estimates by country are based on estimates for Government Office Regions. These do not include those in residential care or nursing homes (RCNH). Eligibility estimates are in thousands, rounded to the nearest 50,000.
	3. Numbers in receipt of pension credit are as at the end of December 2004 ascrecorded by General Matching Service data, scaled up to provide month-endcfigures and rounded to the nearest hundred.
	4. Numbers in receipt do not include RCNH recipients. Total numbers in receipt at the end of December have been adjusted by estimated numbers of RCNH recipients, based on the November 2004 QSE administration data and rounded to the nearest 100.
	5. Some individual recipients may be under 60 years of age, where the claimant is aged 60 or over and the partner aged under 60.
	6. Eligibility estimates at constituency level are not available.
	7. Figures for Northern Ireland are not available.

Pensions

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) male and (b) female recipients of the (i) basic State Pension, (ii) SERPS and (iii) pension credit in 2003–04; and how many recipients there were of each.

Malcolm Wicks: pursuant to the reply, 24 March 2005, Official Report, c. 1037W
	The requested information is in the tables.
	
		Great Britain 2003–04 -- Expenditure (£ million, cash terms)
		
			  (i) Basic state pension (ii) SERPS (iii) Pension credit 
		
		
			 (a) Male 16,801 4,727 1,010 
			 (b) Female 22,978 1,951 1,468 
		
	
	
		Recipients (Thousand)
		
			  (i) Basic state pension (ii) SERPS (iii) Pension credit 
		
		
			 (a) Male 4,241 3,597 761 
			 (b) Female 7,011 3,572 1,405 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest million pounds. Expenditure recorded on the department's accounting systems has been apportioned between males and females using a 5 per cent. sample of administrative records.
	2. All caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and are based on a 5 per cent. sample of administrative records.
	3. A basic State Pension is paid to those who fully or partially satisfy the contribution conditions for a category A or category B basic State Pension.
	4. Category D retirement pensions are not included in the figures.
	5. The SERPS (State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme) figure also includes amounts for state second pension and graduated retirement benefit.
	6. Basic State Pension and SERPS expenditure includes pensions paid to people living overseas.
	7. Pension credit expenditure includes both the guarantee credit and the savings credit. As pension credit was only introduced on 6 October 2003, the 2003–04 expenditure quoted relates only to half a year.
	8. Figures are consistent with the pre-Budget report 2004 and with expenditure information published on the internet at http://www. dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp (table 3). These tables will shortly be updated with Budget 2005 figures.
	Source:
	Departmental accounts data and 5 per cent. samples of departmental administrative records.

Pensions Act 2004

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many statutory instruments have been made under the Pensions Act 2004; and how many remain to be made to implement provisions of the Act.

Malcolm Wicks: To date 43 statutory instruments have been made under the Pensions Act 2004, 31 of which bring into force The Pensions Regulator and Pension Protection Fund from April 2005.
	We anticipate that we will make approximately 60 further statutory instruments over a period of 12 to 18 months to bring into force other provisions of the Act. This estimate may change as the legislation is prepared and as we consult with the pensions industry on particular issues.

Rebates

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of contracted out rebates in the (a) public and (b) private sector was in the last year for which figures are available; and how many people were covered by contracted out rebates in each sector.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table and based on the numbers contracted-out during the 2002–03 tax year, the latest year for which information is available:
	
		
			 Cost of contracted-out rebates Number of people covered by contracted-out rebates 
		
		
			 Public sector £3.7 billion Public Sector 5.2 million 
			 Private sector £6.8 billion Private Sector 7.6 million 
		
	
	Source:
	"Second Tier Pension Provision" published by the Department for Work and Pensions using the Lifetime Labour Market Database which uses a 1 per cent. sample of National Insurance records.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted by the courts in Leicester, in each year since their inception.

Hazel Blears: The available information on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) applied for and issued, on application or following conviction, as notified to the Home Office by the courts in Leicester, is given in the following table.
	
		Number of ASBOs issued, as notified to the Home Office, by type of court in Leicester, 1 June 2000(9) to 30 September 2004
		
			  ASBOs on application(10)  ASBOs on conviction Total issued on application/on 
			 Period Total applications Total issued Total issued conviction 
		
		
			 Magistrates court 
			 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2000 4 4 n/a 4 
			 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001 — — n/a — 
			 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 1 1 — 1 
			 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003 1 1 — 1 
			 1 January 2004 to 30 September 2004 — — 4 4 
			 Sub-total 6 6 4 10 
			 The Crown court 
			 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 n/a n/a — — 
			 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003 n/a n/a 3 3 
			 1 January 2004 to 30 September 2004 n/a n/a 2 2 
			 Sub-total n/a n/a 5 5 
			  
			 County court 
			 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003 — — n/a — 
			 1 January 2004 to 30 September 2004 1 1 n/a 1 
			 Sub-total 1 1 — 1 
			  
			 Total 7 7 9 16 
		
	
	n/a = Not applicable.
	(9) From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data were collected by police force area on aggregate numbers only. During this period one ASBO was notified as issued within Leicestershire.
	(10) Only covers applications dealt with by 30 September 2004.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in Leicester in each year since 1999.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 4 April 2005
	The available information is given in the following table.
	
		Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued, at all courts, as notified to the Home Office, wherein restrictions are imposed in the local government area of the City of Leicester, 1 June 2000 1 to 30 September 2004 2
		
			 Period Total issued 
		
		
			 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2000 4 
			 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001 — 
			 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 1 
			 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003 4 
			 1 January 2004 to 30 September 2004 7 
			 Total 16 
		
	
	(12) From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data were collected by police force area on aggregate numbers only. During this period one ASBO was notified as issued within Leicestershire.
	(13) Latest available.

Deaths Abroad

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to establish a system of discretionary rather than mandatory inquests for violent or suspicious deaths abroad; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: At present coroners in England and Wales are required to hold inquests into deaths which occur overseas only if the body is repatriated, the death is reported to them, and the death would have been subject to an inquest if it had occurred in England and Wales.
	The Government commissioned an independent report—"Death Certification and Investigation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the report of a Fundamental Review" [Cm 5831] which was presented to Parliament in 2003. It included recommendations on coroners' responsibilities for deaths abroad (pages 136–139) and proposed that public inquests should be at the discretion of coroners, but with an expectation that they would take place in particular circumstances.
	Drawing on the recommendations of the review, and taking full account of the Third Report of the Shipman Inquiry which was also published [Cm 5854] in 2003, we outlined our intention to proceed with coroner and death certification reform in a position paper presented to Parliament in March 2004 [Cm 6159]. We are concluding detailed work currently and will put forward firm plans, including the handling of coroners' investigations into deaths abroad, as soon as we can.

Departmental Policies (Newcastle-under-Lyme)

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on tackling drugs misuse in Newcastle-under-Lyme since 1997.

Caroline Flint: A breakdown of financial allocations to local constituencies is not available in the form requested, as funding is allocated to Drug Action Teams (DATs). In this case, the figures given are those for Staffordshire DAT, which covers Tamworth, Staffordshire Moorlands, Burton, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire and Stone.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Staffordshire DAT has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drug Interventions Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Staffordshire DAT amounted to £4.38 million, rising to £5.16 million in 2004–05.

Drug-related Crime

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested for crimes connected with (a) cocaine and (b) heroin use in each constituency in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: Data on crimes related to the drugs specified are not currently collated at constituency level. The Home Office collates data at police force level on arrests for property crimes, but do not record whether they are related to an offender's drug habit. However, data on drug offenders are collated at police force level.
	Data on the numbers of people arrested for cocaine and heroin offences in the United Kingdom are available in the "Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom" Home Office statistical bulletin 2001 and 2002, and the Drug Offenders finding, for England and Wales 2003. The area tables accompanying these publications provide a break down at police force level.
	Copies are available in the Library of the House and on the RDS website at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hosb0804.pdf%5D

Drug-related Crime

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were arrested for crimes connected with (a) cannabis, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy and (d) heroin use in each constituency in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 24 March 2005
	Data on crimes related to the drugs specified are not currently collated at constituency level. The Home Office collates data at police force level on arrests for property crimes, but do not record whether they are related to an offender's drug habit. However, data on drug offenders are collated at police force level.
	Data on the numbers of people arrested for cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and heroin offences in the United Kingdom are available in the "Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom" Home Office statistical bulletin 2001 and 2002, and the Drug Offenders finding, for England and Wales 2003. The area tables accompanying these publications provide a break down at police force level. Copies are available in the Library and on the RDS website at: http://uk.sitestat. com/homeoffice/homeoffice/s?rds.hosb0804pdf&ns type= pdf&ns url=%5Bhttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hosb0804.pdf%5D

Essex Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to amalgamate divisional police commands in Essex.

Hazel Blears: The operational control and direction of police resources is vested in the local chief constable. Inevitably this includes where and how resources are deployed and the supporting structures for service delivery. This is not a matter over which Ministers, quite rightly, have any direct influence and I am not therefore in a position to be able to answer this question.

Police

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government are planning to change the discipline system for police officers who have acted in a discriminatory way.

Hazel Blears: We are considering changes to the police disciplinary system rising from the review of the police disciplinary arrangements conducted by William Taylor, the report from the Commission for Racial Equality on the Police Service in England and Wales and the review conducted by Sir William Morris entitled "The Case for Change: People in the Metropolitan Police Service". This consideration will address discriminatory behaviour and other misconduct issues.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce robbery in the 10 Street Crime Initiative areas by 14 per cent. from 1999–2000 levels by 2005 will be met.

Hazel Blears: Performance against the Home Office targets is published in the Annual Report and the Autumn Performance Report available in the Library and on the Home Office website (www.homeoffice. gov.uk).

Transport Staff (Assaults)

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent attacks against (a) London Underground staff, (b) staff employed on the railways, (c) traffic police, (d) traffic wardens, (e) British Transport Police and (f) bus drivers there have been in each year since 1990.

Hazel Blears: The only information which is collected centrally by the Home Office relates to assaults on traffic wardens in England and Wales and is only available for the last two financial years. In 2002–03, there were two recorded assaults resulting in serious injury and 63 recorded assaults resulting in minor or no injury. In 2003–04, there were 21 assaults resulting in minor or no injury.
	The British Transport Police publish limited statistics on the number of officers and staff who are assaulted. The latest figures are contained in 'Statistical Bulletin 2003–04' which is available on their website at:
	http://www.btp.police.uk/publications.htm

Antrim Hospital

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to increase (a) ward and (b) bed numbers at Antrim hospital.

Angela Smith: In July 2004, a new 10-bed short stay ward for patients requiring observation or short-term treatment was opened at Antrim Area hospital.
	In addition, under the Reform and Re-investment initiative, funding has been made available for the construction of an additional 24-bed ward that is expected to open towards the end of 2005.
	Further expansion of Antrim Area hospital is being considered in the context of the implementation of "Developing Better Services", and the United Hospitals Trust and the Northern Health and Social Services Board are currently developing a detailed business case in this regard.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting time (i) for an initial assessment regarding and (ii) from assessment to commencing cognitive behavioural therapy was in each health board area for the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the current (a) average and (b) longest waiting time (i) for an initial assessment regarding and (ii) from assessment to commencing cognitive behavioural therapy is in each health board area.

Angela Smith: Information on cognitive behavioural therapy is not collected centrally and is not available by health board area.

Correspondence

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Environment and Heritage Service will answer the letter of 10 December 2004 from the hon. Member for North Down in relation to the restoration of Rosebank House in Donaghadee.

Angela Smith: The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) replied to the hon. Member for North Down's letter of 10 December 2004 on 7 February 2005. I understand that EHS acknowledged the hon. Lady's letter on 5 January.

Criminal Offences

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the criminal offences created in legislation sponsored by his Department in the (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 Session, broken down by Act.

Paul Murphy: The information is as follows.
	Criminal offences created in legislation by the Northern Ireland Office
	Parliamentary Session: 2002–03
	Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002
	Section 48—Obstructing the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice or his Inspectors in the execution of their duties
	Section 81—Obstructing court security officers
	Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003
	Article 5(1)—Absconding from bail
	Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003
	Section 27 (8)—Restriction of disclosure of information; and
	Section 39(2)—Impersonation etc. of designated persons.
	Parliamentary Session: 2003–04
	Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2004
	Criminal Offence Created: Section 7—Influencing a prosecutor
	Criminal Offence Created: Schedule 2—Absconding by persons admitted to bail under the Terrorism Act 2000
	Anti-social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order 2004
	Criminal Offence Created: Article 6—Breaching an Anti-social Behaviour Order
	Criminal Offence Created: Article 8—Reporting a case where there are reporting restrictions in place
	Criminal Justice No.2 (Northern Ireland) Order 2004
	Criminal Offence Created: Article 5—Aggravated vehicle taking and; aggravated vehicle taking causing death or grievous bodily harm
	Offences created in legislation by Northern Ireland Government Departments under the provisions of the Northern Ireland Act 2000
	Parliamentary Session 2002–03
	Department for Regional Development
	Article 5 of the Harbours (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, 2002 No. 3155 (N.I.9)
	Any person who in purported compliance with a notice under paragraph Article 5(1) who knowingly or recklessly makes any statement or produces any document which is false in a material particular, and any person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with a notice under Article 5(1).
	Department for Employment and Learning
	Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2836, N.I.2)
	Article 12—Penalties: failures to comply: sets out penalties that apply in cases of failure to provide documentary material on request with regard to Statutory Adoption Pay and Statutory Paternity Pay. Further details are contained in Schedule 1 to the Order.
	Article 13—Penalties: fraud, etc.: establishes that where a person fraudulently or negligently makes an incorrect statement regarding entitlement to Statutory Paternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay, a penalty may be applied. Further details are contained in Schedule 1 to the Order.
	Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
	Article 3 of the Fur Farming (Prohibition) (NI) Order 2002 (2002/3151 (N.I.5)
	Keeping of, or knowingly causing or permitting another person to keep, animals for slaughter for the value of their fur or breeding progeny for such slaughter.
	Department of the Environment
	Article 20 (a) and Article 46 (b) of the Environment (NI) Order 2002 (2002/3153 (N.I.7))
	(a) Intentionally obstructing an authorised person in the exercise of his duties.
	(b) The carrying out by an owner or occupier of land of work prohibited by the Order in an area of special scientific interest.
	Department of the Environment
	Articles 3, 4, 10, 12, 13 and 23 of the Planning (Amendment) (NI) Order 2003 (2003/430 (N.I.8))
	(a) Breach of planning control
	(b) Providing false or misleading information.
	(c) Wilful obstruction.
	Note:
	Article 23 of the Order 2003 also introduced a new offence in relation to Planning Agreements, but this provision has yet to be commenced
	Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment
	Article 18 of the Company Directors Disqualifications (NI) Order 2002 (2002/3150 (N.I.4))
	Acting in contravention of a company directors disqualification order or disqualification undertaking
	Insolvency (NI) Order 1989 and Insolvency (NI) Order 2002
	The following paragraphs in Schedule Al inserted into the Insolvency (NI) Order 1989 (1989/2405 (N.I.19) by Schedule 1 to the Insolvency (NI) Order 2002 (2002/3152 (N.I.6);
	Paragraph 20(2) (a), 21(3) (b), 22(2) (c), 27(2) (d), 28(3)(a) (e), 28(3)(b) (f), 29(3)(a) (g), 29(3)(b) (h), 30(3)(a), (i), 30(3)(b) (j), 31(9) (k), 32(1) (l), 32(2) (m), 33(1)(a) (n), 33(1)(b) (o), 35(6) (p), 44(3) (q), 51(2) (r), 51(3) (s), 51(7) (t), 52(1)(u).
	(a) Directors failing to notify nominee of beginning of moratorium.
	(b) Nominee failing to advertise or notify beginning of moratorium.
	(c) Nominee failing to advertise or notify end of moratorium.
	(d) Company and officers failing to state in correspondence etc. that moratorium is in force.
	(e) Company obtaining credit without disclosing existence of moratorium.
	(f) Obtaining credit for company without disclosing existence of moratorium.
	(g) Company disposing of property otherwise than in ordinary way of business.
	(h) Authorising or permitting disposal of company property.
	(i) Company making payments in respect of liabilities existing before beginning of moratorium.
	(j) Authorising or permitting such a payment.
	(k) Directors failing to send to registrar office copy of court order permitting disposal of charged property.
	(l) Company disposing of charged property.
	(m) Authorising or permitting such a disposal.
	(n) Company entering into market contract, etc.
	(o) Authorising or permitting company to do so.
	(p) Nominee failing to give notice of withdrawal of consent to act.
	(q) Nominee failing to give notice of extension of moratorium.
	(r) Fraud or privity to fraud in anticipation of moratorium.
	(s) Fraud or privity to fraud during moratorium.
	(t) Knowingly taking in pawn or pledge, or otherwise receiving, company property.
	(u) False representation or fraud for purpose of obtaining or extending moratorium.
	Para.8 of Schedule 2 (a) and para. 12 of Schedule 3 (b) to, the Insolvency (NI) Order 2002 (2002/3152 (N.I.6))—which insert provisions into the Insolvency (NI) Order 1989.
	(a) False representation by an officer of a company for the purpose of obtaining approval of the members or creditors of a company to a proposal for a voluntary arrangement.
	(b) False representation by a debtor for the purpose of obtaining the approval of creditors.
	Limited Liability Partnerships Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 1 
	Article 2—false statement regarding incorporation documents.
	Article 9—not delivering notice of membership changes to the registrar within specified periods.
	Schedule, Part I, paragraph 4—failure to change name in accordance with Department's direction.
	Schedule, Part I, paragraph 7—improper use of "limited liability partnership" etc.
	Articles 51(4)(a), 51(5)(b) and 63(9)(c) of, and paragraph 5 of Schedule 2(d), to the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (2003/419 (N.I.6))
	(a) Failure by a licence holder to produce any documents or information required by the Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation (NIAER) as a result of any contravention of a licence condition or failure to achieve a performance standard.
	(b) Intentional alteration, suppression or destruction by a licence holder of any document required by the NIAER as a result of any contravention of a licence condition or failure to achieve a performance standard.
	(c) Wrongful disclosure of information relating to the affairs of any individual or business.
	(d) Application—subject to certain modifications—of Section 110 (intentional alteration, suppression or destruction of any document) and Section 117 (provision of false or misleading information) of the Enterprise Act 2002 in relation to investigations by the Competition Commission of whether activities which are not licensable operate against the public interest.
	1 Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly
	Parliamentary Session 2003–04
	Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
	Article 6 of the Agricultural Statistics (NI) Order 2004 (2004/1109 (N.I.7)
	(a) failure to provide information;
	(b) the provision of information known to be wrong;
	(c) wrongful disclosure of information obtained under the Order.
	Article 3 of the Financial Assistance for Young Farmers (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (2004/3080 (N.I.21)
	In connection with the provision made for inspection, preservation and production of records and documents for the purpose of verifying entitlement to grants; and making false statements for the purposes of obtaining a grant.
	Department of the Environment
	Article 6 of the Road Traffic (Driving Disqualifications) (NI) Order 2003 (2003/2903 (N.I.16)) which inserts provisions in the Road Traffic (NI) Order 1981
	(a) Failure of the licence holder to deliver a GB licence and its counterparts to the Department when required to do so.
	(b) Failure of a GB driver licence holder to notify the Department of a disability as required.
	Department of the Environment
	Article 4(7) and (8); Article 5(14); Article 6 (15); Article 8 (3) of the Dangerous Wild Animals (NI) Order 2004 (2004 /1993 (N.I.16))
	(a) Keeping a dangerous wild animal without a licence.
	(b) Contravention of or failure to comply with any condition of a licence.
	(c) Obstructing any person carrying out an inspection or exercising a power of seizure authorised by the Department.
	(d) Transferring ownership of a dangerous wild animal to any person who is not the holder of a valid licence.
	Department of Social Development
	"Article 8 of the Licensing (Indoor Arenas) (NI) Order 2004 93004/1994 (N.I.17))—which amends the Licensing (NI) Order 1996 (1996/3158)(N.I22)) to include a new offence
	Selling or making available for purchase intoxicating liquor in indoor arenas, except as specified.
	Articles 8 and 10 of the Betting and Gaming (NI) Order 2004 (2004/310 (N.I.1)), insofar as they extend the offences provisions in Article 108 of the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (NI) Order 1985 (1985/1204 (N.I.11)) to licensed bookmakers.
	Contravention, by licensed bookmakers, of provisions relating to the use of gaming machines".

Parades

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has taken (a) to inform parade organisers that it is their responsibility to ensure the good behaviour of supporters and followers of parades and (b) to instruct his officers to have regard for the behaviour of supporters and followers, and to regard them as participants for the purposes of securing compliance with a determination of the Parades Commission.

Ian Pearson: The information is as follows.
	(a) PSNI provide a copy of the Parades Commission's code of conduct to parade organisers when they present the Parade Application Form 11/1 at a police station. The code of conduct sets out clearly that the onus is on organisers to ensure the good behaviour of supporters and followers. Police have a general order which contains guidelines on the planning process in the run up to a parade. In December 2002, an amendment was made to the general order which states that
	"police evidence to the commission will include evidence of efforts by the Police Service to work with parade organisers and/or representatives of the involved neighbourhoods in the planning process."
	This has emphasised the work which police carry out in an area during the run up to a parade.
	(b) PSNI take appropriate action to police Parades Commission's determinations. Where conditions have included the behaviour of supporters and followers the police take account of these.

School Buildings

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what new school buildings in the Lagan Valley constituency (a) have opened in each year since 1997 (b) are under construction and (c) have been approved for funding but are not yet under construction.

Barry Gardiner: In the Lagan Valley constituency (a) eight new school buildings have opened since 1997, namely:
	
		
			  Date 
		
		
			 Bridge Integrated Primary School April 1998 
			 Moira Primary School June 1998 
			 Riverdale Primary School March 2000 
			 Balmoral High School January 2002 
			 Ballycarrickmaddy Primary School February 2002 
			 Ballymacward Primary School September 2002 
			 Christ The Redeemer Primary School September 2003 
			 Meadowbridge Primary School September 2003 
		
	
	(b) One new school is currently under construction, namely:
	Hillsborough / Newport Primary School
	(c) Six schools have been approved for funding but are not yet under construction, namely:
	Ballinderry Primary School
	Ballymacrickett Primary School
	Brookfield Special School, Moira
	East Lisburn Primary Schools (amalgamation of four existing schools)
	St. Colman's Primary School, Lambeg
	Dromore Central Primary School

Abortion

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were carried out in the UK in 2003–04; and how many of those were carried out between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Melanie Johnson: In 2003, there were 181,582 abortions performed in England and Wales, on residents of England and Wales, of which 1,229 (0.7 per cent.) were carried out at 22 and 24 weeks gestation.

Addictions (York)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what health services are provided for people addicted to (a) illegal drugs, (b) alcohol and (c) tobacco in York; and how much was spent on each of these services in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) 2004–05.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Alcohol-related Emergencies

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related emergency cases there were in hospitals in the Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority in each of the last four years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Alcohol-related emergency admissions to hospitals in the Northumberland Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority and predecessor bodies/national health service trusts
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 South Tyneside Healthcare NHS Trust 535 513 479 517 
			 City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust 1,093 1,329 1,504 1,683 
			 Northgate and Prudhoe NHS Trust — 3 5 1 
			 Newcastle City Health NHS Trust 82 — — — 
			 Newcastle North Tyneside and Northumbria Mental Health NHS Trust — 113 96 68 
			 Gateshead Health NHS Trust 701 749 737 739 
			 The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust 1,684 1,674 1,652 1,764 
			 Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust 1,026 1,048 1,036 1,154 
			 Priority Healthcare Wearside NHS Trust 152 91 — — 
			 South of Tyne and Wearside Mental Health NHS Trust — — 158 195 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Count of finished admission episodes (alcohol related), method of admission—emergency.
	2. SNA of treatment (in 2002–03 and 2003–04)—Northumberland, Tyne and Wear.
	3. HA of treatment (in 2000–01 and 2001–02)—Gateshead and South Tyneside, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Northumberland, Sunderland. NHS hospitals in England 2003–04.
	4. The Newcastle North Tyneside and Northumbria Mental Health NHS Trust was formed on 1 April 2001 following the merger of the Newcastle City Health NHS Trust and the Northumberland Mental Health NHS Trust.
	5. The South of Tyne and Wearside Mental Health NHS Trust was formed on 1 April 2002 following the closure of Priority Healthcare Wearside NHS Trust.
	6. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	7. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
	8. As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (six prior to 2002–03) secondary diagnosis fields in HES that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care.
	9. ICD-10 codes = "alcohol related" as advised by NHS Information Authority clinical coding service. Counts include any of the records where the following listed codes are recorded in the primary or secondary field:
	Primary diagnosis:
	F10 —Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.
	T51—Toxic effect of alcohol.
	R78.0 Finding of alcohol in blood.
	Secondary diagnosis:
	F10—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.
	T51—Toxic effect of alcohol.
	X45—Alcohol poisoning and exposure to alcohol.
	X65—Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol.
	Y90—Evidence of alcohol involvement determined by alcohol level.
	Y91—Evidence of alcohol involvement determined by level of intoxication.
	R78.0 Finding of alcohol in blood.
	10. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	Source:
	HES, Department of Health.

Breast Cancer (Wimbledon)

Roger Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of women in Wimbledon with suspected breast cancer saw a specialist within two weeks of referral in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: The table shows how many and what percentage of women with suspected breast cancer saw a specialist within two weeks, following urgent general practitioner referral received within 24 hours, in each of the last four years by south west London national health service trusts. Since June 2004, the data source is the cancer waiting times database. Prior to this, the data source was the Department's quarterly QMCW Korner return.
	
		Two week wait data—breast cancer—annual aggregates for three trusts—WimbledonSt. George's Healthcare NHS TrustThe Royal Marsden NHS Foundation TrustEpsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
		
			 Quarter Year Trust code Trust Total number of referrals seen Percentage compliance with the two week standard Number of patients seen during the quarter by a specialist within 14 days of the decision to refer by their GP 
		
		
			 01 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS trust 141 100.00 141 
			 01 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 285 100.00 285 
			 02 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 325 99.69 324 
			 02 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 145 100.00 145 
			 03 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Trust 340 100.00 340 
			 03 2003–04 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 1 100.00 1 
			 03 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 209 100.00 209 
			 04 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 185 100.00 185 
			 04 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 339 100.00 339 
			   Annual  1,970 99.95 1,969 
			
			 01 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 175 100.00 175 
			 01 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 352 100.00 352 
			 01 2004–05 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 1 100.00 1 
			 02 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 222 100.00 222 
			 02 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 304 100.00 304 
			 03 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 366 100.00 366 
			 03 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 200 100.00 200 
			   Annual  1,620 100.00 1,628 
			
			 01 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 270 100.00 270 
			 01 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 97 100.00 97 
			 02 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 305 100.00 305 
			 02 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 158 100.00 158 
			 03 200203 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 340 100.00 340 
			 03 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 180 98.33 177 
			 04 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 340 100.00 340 
			 04 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 154 100.00 154 
			   Annual  1,844 99.84 1,841 
			 04 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 104 98.08 102 
			 04 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 260 100.00 260 
			 03 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 96 96.88 93 
			 03 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 285 100.00 285 
			 02 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 136 100.00 136 
			 02 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 230 100.00 230 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 100 100.00 100 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 178 100.00 178 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 51 100.00 51 
			  2001–02 Annual  1,448 (21)99.65 1,435 
		
	
	
		
			 <24 
			 Quarter Year Trust code Trust 15 to 16 17 to 21 22 to 28 28+ 
		
		
			 01 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS trust 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 0 1 0 0 
			 02 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2003–04 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 04 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 04 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 0 0 0 0 
			   Annual  
			 
			 01 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2004–05 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			   Annual  
			 
			 01 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 200203 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 3 0 0 0 
			 04 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 04 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			   Annual  
			 
			 04 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 1 0 0 1 
			 04 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 3 0 0 0 
			 03 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			  2001–02 Annual  
		
	
	
		
			 >24 
			 Quarter Year Trust code Trust Within 14 15 to 16 17 to 21 22 to 28 28+ 
		
		
			 01 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS trust 0 0 0 0 0 
			 01 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 58 0 0 1 1 
			 02 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 48 1 1 1 0 
			 02 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 7 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Trust 53 0 2 0 0 
			 03 2003–04 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 0 
			 03 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 18 0 0 1 1 
			 04 2003–04 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 10 2 2 2 1 
			 04 2003–04 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 48 0 0 1 1 
			   Annual  — — — — — 
			 01 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 11 1 1 0 1 
			 01 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 56 0 1 0 1 
			 01 2004–05 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 0 
			 02 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 9 0 0 0 2 
			 02 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 53 1 2 1 0 
			 03 2004–05 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust 57 0 2 0 1 
			 03 2004–05 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 16 0 3 0 1 
			   Annual  — — — — — 
			  
			 01 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 01 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 02 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 02 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 03 200203 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 03 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 04 2002–03 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 04 2002–03 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust — — — — — 
			   Annual  — — — — — 
			  
			 04 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 04 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 03 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 03 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 02 2001–02  St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 02 2001–02  Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 01 2001–02  Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust — — — — — 
			  2001–02 Annual  — — — — — 
		
	
	(21) Was 99.78
	Sources:
	CWT-OB and Department of Health QMCW

Children's National Service Framework

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to support primary care trusts in conducting regular audits and reviews of local children's health services.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has set out a framework for the national health service for continuous improvement in the overall quality of care people receive, including children, in "Standards for Better Health". Underpinning this is clinical governance, including clinical audit, which provides healthcare organisations, including primary care trusts, with a systematic means of ensuring compliance with their statutory duties. The Healthcare Commission has recently completed an extensive public consultation on a new system for assessing and performance rating NHS trusts in 2005–06 against these standards.
	The national service framework for children, young people and maternity services requires each health economy to develop a managed local children's clinical network to review and meet the needs of the local population.
	As set out in "National Standards, Local Action", strategic health authorities (SHAs) are responsible for developing healthcare improvement plans in their local areas and making sure that local health services, including children's services, commissioned by primary care trusts are of a high standard and are performing well.
	The "Better Metrics" project offers primary care trusts a range of clinical measurements of performance for local target setting, which is available on the website of the office of the SHAs at www.osha.nhs.uk

Commission for Social Care Inspection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the responsibilities of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) which are not due to be merged into the Healthcare Commission in the proposals announced with the Budget; what estimate he has made of the likely change in (a) costs and (b) jobs arising from the merger; what the duties of staff employed by the CSCI are; and which duties are likely to be merged into the Healthcare Commission.

Stephen Ladyman: Subject to further review, we expect the duties of both commissions to remain in place after the merger takes effect. Those duties are as set out in the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. The merger will allow a reduction in costs through more efficient administrative arrangements. The detailed staffing and financial implications will be considered as part of the process of planning and implementation.

Correspondence

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter regarding Mrs. Faye Daniel sent to his Department on 30 April 2004 by the hon. Member for Brent, East, reference: DC/Daniel/30/04/04.

Stephen Ladyman: Officials have no record of a letter referring to Mrs. Faye Daniels, or correspondence under the reference DC/Daniel/30/04/04, arriving in the Department.

Dentistry

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have been recruited via his Department's International Recruitment Scheme since the beginning of 2004; how many are working in the south-west; how long each has been at work and where; and whether each (a) recruit from an EU member state and (b) partner of such a recruit is eligible for state benefits, with particular reference to maternity benefits.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 March 2005
	69 dentists have been recruited from Poland via the Department's international recruitment scheme. 17 of these have been working in Devon or Cornwall since January 2005. They are located in Camborne, Liskeard, Paignton, Exeter (all two each) and Falmouth, Cullompton, Exmouth, Seaton, St. Budeaux, South Brent, Constantine, Plymouth, Torquay (all one each).
	Dentists are eligible for maternity, paternity and adoptive leave payments as part of the general dentists service (GDS) system of remuneration. This includes dentists from European Union member states if they satisfy the conditions of maternity pay in the GDS.
	There are two maternity benefits in the United Kingdom: statutory maternity pay (SMP) from a woman's employer or maternity allowance from the state. A woman from a country that is a member of the EU may receive statutory maternity pay from her employer if she satisfies the qualifying conditions. Further details are available at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2003/gl28 dec.pdf
	and at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2004/bc1 oct04.pdf
	If she is not eligible for SMP, she may be eligible for maternity allowance if she has worked in the United Kingdom for at least a week earning 30 a week, and is able to use her work or insurance record in another EU state to help her qualify.

Direct Payments

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what publicity he has funded to encourage the uptake of direct payments; and what funding was made available in each case.

Stephen Ladyman: We have produced a range of user-friendly information including, "A guide to receiving direct payments from your local council", which will also be available in Braille and audio formats. In association with the Council for Disabled Children, we have also produced "A Parents' Guide to Direct Payments" for parents with disabled children.
	We have produced an easy guide to direct payments to encourage people with learning disabilities to consider the option of direct payments.
	We have also produced a video targeted at people from black and ethnic minority communities who want to access direct payments. a video targeting older people is also being produced by Age Concern.
	Local councils should supplement this with local appropriate information.
	We also provide funding to the National Centre for Independent Living, which provides information and advice about direct payments and independent living to individuals, local councils and voluntary organisations.

Drugs

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential drug rehabilitation places are available in Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not held centrally.

Food Labelling

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prosecutions have been initiated in each of the last five years for labelling of food content which was deliberately misleading; and what percentage of those prosecutions related to the salt content.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 24 March 2005
	Information is not held centrally on the number of prosecutions for labelling of food offences which were deliberately misleading, or which related to salt content.
	In line with the requirements of the European Union's Official Control Directive (OCD) 89/397, the data on prosecutions collected from local authorities by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is reported under seven generic headings, one of which is "labelling and presentation". In accordance with the relevant European Union guidance, each type of enforcement action is only recorded once per premises per year.
	The FSA currently holds information for the five years covering the period 1999 to 2003. The numbers of premises subject to prosecutions initiated in the United Kingdom under the heading of "labelling and presentation" during the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of establishments subject to prosecution Percentage of all prosecutions initiated 
		
		
			 1999 284 26 
			 2000 224 30 
			 2001 150 23 
			 2002 161 20 
			 2003 193 22

General Practitioner Surgeries (York)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner surgeries in York have been (a) newly built and (b) modernised since 1997.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Health Promotion

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2004, Official Report, column 504W, on Health Promotion, where the first wave of pilots to promote health and wellbeing through the workplace will be situated; when the pilots will commence; and what funding he is providing to the pilots.

Melanie Johnson: "Workplace Health", which is aimed at improving health and well-being in the workplace, is a two-year, £1.4 million programme managed by the British Heart Foundation and funded by Sport England, the Big Lottery Fund and the Department with a workplace pilot based in each of the nine regions in England.
	Each pilot is being delivered by a regional partnership with representation from primary care trusts, local government, business forums and industry. The first and second waves of pilots will commence in summer 2005.

Health White Paper

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 December 2004, Official Report, column 355W, on Health White Paper, what the timeframe is for developing the National Health Competency Framework; whether all Staff will be covered by the Framework; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The "Skills for Health" (SfH) strategic plan 2004–09 sets out plans to achieve in excess of 95 per cent. coverage of the United Kingdom health sector work force in terms of competence frameworks, including national occupational standards.
	The Department has a service level agreement in place with SfH to support the continuing development and maintenance of competences in the health sector.

HIV

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new cases of HIV were diagnosed in the UK in each year since 2001; what percentage of new cases were African migrants coming to the UK from (a) former British colonies and (b) elsewhere; and what estimate he has made of the number of African people living in the UK who have undiagnosed HIV.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 24 March 2005
	Information about new HIV diagnoses and HIV prevalence estimates is contained in the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) report "Focus on prevention: HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in the United Kingdom in 2003—an update: November 2004 and AIDS/HIV quarterly surveillance table: cumulative UK data to end December 2004". These documents are available on the HPA's website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics az/hiv and sti/publications/annual2004/annual2004.htm
	and at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics az/hiv andsti/hiv/epidemiology/files/quarterly.pdf

MRSA

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Health Protection Agency's survey of data collection methods for the mandatory MRSA surveillance scheme is complete; and what assessment has been made of the consistency in data collection methods across NHS trusts.

Melanie Johnson: The user study by the Health Protection Agency of the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia mandatory surveillance scheme is expected to be received by the Department shortly.

MRSA

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cases of MRSA have been reported involving kidney patients receiving treatment through intravenous tubes in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what measures have been taken to prevent MRSA infections being contracted during dialysis treatment.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 23 March 2005
	Figures on the incidence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in kidney patients dialysed using central venous catheters are not available.
	All national health service trusts need to take steps to control MRSA and other healthcare associated infections and general guidance on infection control is set out in "Winning Ways: Working together to reduce healthcare associated infection in England".
	Specific advice on infection control in dialysis units has been issued by the Renal Association in "Treatment of adults and children with renal failure—standards and audit measures".

MRSA

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has collated on the incidence of community-acquired MRSA; and what action he is taking to prevent its spread.

Melanie Johnson: Community-acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) usually refers to cases of MRSA isolated from previously healthy people without any obvious risk factors such as admission to hospital. The Health Protection Agency's (HPA) staphylococcal reference laboratory has confirmed 100 cases over the last three years—an extremely small proportion of the isolates they receive (less than 0.005 per cent.). The Specialist Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (SACAR) and the HPA are monitoring reports of CA-MRSA and recommend continued vigilance, but that there is no immediate cause for concern. They will be carrying out a small survey to establish the prevalence of these infections.
	CA-MRSA is controlled by good hygiene and infection control and guidance for the national health service is available in "Infection Control: Prevention of healthcare associated infection in primary and community care" published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in 2003.

Neo-natal Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to include the performance of neo-natal care in key indicators of hospital standards.

Stephen Ladyman: The independent Healthcare Commission is responsible for developing and producing the national health service performance ratings. The Commission is currently developing a new assessment methodology, which will include assessments against the national standards for the NHS published in "Standards for Better Health". Its proposals will be published in the spring.

Nurses (North-east)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) trainee nurses are employed by each NHS Trust in the North East region and (b) student nurses on NHS contracts and receiving bursaries from the NHS are studying at each higher education institution in the North East region; what the value of NHS bursaries was in (i) 2004–05 and (ii) 1997; and whether such bursaries (A) are taxable and (B) were taxable in 1997.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 15 March 2005
	Student nurses are not technically employed by national health service trusts whilst undertaking pre-registration nurse training courses, even though they continue to be paid a salary, as they have supernumerary status during their training period. There were 307 health care assistants seconded to nurse training by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear strategic health authority on behalf of their local trusts in 2003–04. (Source: Q4 2003–04MPET NMET Quarterly Monitoring).
	Information is not held centrally on which higher education institution each student attends.
	Total student bursary awards in Northern England Education and Training Consortium were £183,452 in the 1997–98 academic year and £2,463,424 in the 2004–05 academic year. The figures are not directly comparable because the NHS Student Grants Unit (SGU) did not take on the responsibility for the assessment and payment of NHS Bursaries to nursing degree students until the 1998–99 academic year and only assessed and paid bursaries to Allied Health Profession students in the 1997–98 academic year. Similarly, Diploma level nursing and midwifery students were not paid their bursaries by SGU until the 1999–2000 academic year, with fifth year undergraduate medical and dental students, who commenced their first year from 1 September 1998 onwards, being incorporated into the NHS Bursary Scheme from the 2002–03 academic year.
	NHS student bursaries are not taxable and were not taxable in 1997.

Patients Forums

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of patients' forums have resigned since 1 December 2003; and what percentage turnover in membership this represents.

Rosie Winterton: Since 1 December 2003, 7614 members have been recruited to patients' forums, of whom 1,609, or 21 per cent., have resigned. Current membership is 4,809, which is the highest since forum establishment.

Practice-based Commissioning

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage uptake of practice-based commissioning; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The Department has issued two sets of guidance clarifying how practice-based commissioning will operate. Furthermore, external stakeholders have been involved in producing practical booklets aimed at helping practices and primary care trusts with local implementation. A communications strategy has also been developed which highlights the benefits that practice-based commissioning can bring to both patients and those who work in the national health service. Officials are also considering what more can be done to encourage uptake.

Premium Rate Phone Lines

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the cost for patients' friends and relatives of calling patients in hospital through premium rate lines operable through bedside telephones; if he will publish guidance given to NHS trusts on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Patients in national health service hospitals have requested personal use of a telephone to remain in contact with family and friends. This is provided through the patient power system and over 75,000 beds in NHS trusts have this service.
	There are four companies licensed to provide these services and they are responsible for all aspects of installation, managing and running the service.
	Contracts are entered into by individual trusts, which will set out in the contract an agreed schedule of charges, including the cost of incoming calls to patients.
	Three suppliers, covering 69,000 beds, include a message notifying callers at the outset of the call what the cost will be. The fourth, which provides a service to the remaining 6,000 beds, will shortly be including a similar message at all its sites.
	Bedside televisions and telephones are an additional service to patients. It is still possible for friends and relatives to contact a hospital through its main switchboard and then be transferred to a nurses' station to enquire about their relative's health.
	NHS Estates commissioned the British Market Research Bureau to carry out a survey to conduct research into patient and staff satisfaction with the bedside communication and entertainment systems. Over 300 patients and nearly 100 staff were interviewed at six NHS hospitals between October and November 2004.
	88 per cent. of patients said that they were satisfied with the services.
	95 per cent. of patients chose to pay for services offered.
	Patients said the most important reason for using the system was to make phone calls without having to ask a member of staff for help or go to a public pay phone.
	The patient bedside entertainment system provides a vital direct link with the outside world for NHS patients. The results of the recent survey confirm that the service is useful in improving the patient's stay in hospital.

Psoriasis

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on levels of psoriasis in the population;
	(2)  what improvements he is making in (a) treatments and (b) services for patients suffering from psoriasis;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of general practitioner consultations for psoriasis that took place in the last year for which figures are available;
	(4)  if he will estimate the number of working days lost in the population as a result of psoriasis in each year.

Stephen Ladyman: Data on the incidence of psoriasis is not available centrally. However, the Psoriasis Association estimates that the condition affects approximately two per cent, of the United Kingdom population.
	Information on the number of general practitioner consultations for psoriasis is not collected centrally, nor are figures covering the number of working days lost as a result of the condition.
	In England, primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for deciding which health services the local population requires and ensuring that these services are provided. We have asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to establish the clinical and cost effectiveness of efalizumab and etanercept within their licensed indications for the treatment of psoriasis and to produce guidance for the national health service in England and Wales. We expect NICE to publish guidance in October 2005. PCTs are obliged to provide appropriate funding where treatments have been recommended by NICE.

Schizophrenia

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Home Office and his Department work together in developing public information publicising the risks of developing schizophrenia from cannabis use aimed at (a) early age users, (b) carers, (c) chronic users and (d) professionals.

Melanie Johnson: The Department and the Home Office work closely together in publicising the health risks of all illegal drugs, including cannabis.
	Both Departments, supported by the Department for Education and Skills, fund and manage the FRANK campaign, which informs young people and their parents, carers and families about the effects and risks of taking illicit drugs. The risks associated with cannabis use, including mental health illness, are documented. A FRANK information pack for practitioners, "Communicating the health risks of cannabis use", was developed and approved by both Departments and published in 2004. Included is material that focuses specifically on young non-users, light users and those contemplating use. It also includes materials aimed at heavy chronic users. They draw attention to the important mental health risks of cannabis, including the risk that use can trigger serious mental health problems and that there is concern that people who use cannabis a lot when they are young may be vulnerable to mental health problems later in life. These will continue to be updated in the light of emerging evidence. Materials aimed specifically at cannabis users with mental health problems, their carers and the professionals who work with them are currently in development by the Home Office and the Department following consultation with key stakeholders.